Specify Approvers Using an Approval Role

The feature described in this Help topic is available only if any of the following versions of both Office SharePoint Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 are installed: Chinese (Traditional), Chinese (Simplified), Japanese, or Korean.

When you request approval, it is often convenient to specify an approval role instead of specifying individual approvers. For example, for drafts involving different departments within the organization, you might find it convenient to specify an approval role, such as 'Purchase manager in the financial department,' which eliminates the need to check the names of the people in charge in other departments. It is particularly convenient if you set up an approval role for those that see frequent changes in the people in charge because it can help minimize confusion caused by the changes.

You can also assign multiple persons to a single approval role to allow them to share the approval authority. In this case, every member of the approval role receives a request for approval. However, in this case, if even a single member of this approval role approves, the approval process moves to the next step. An icon representing an approval role appears in front of the name of an approval role including multiple members.